Floral piece and unit for use therewith



May 29, 1934. (:QHEN 1,960,476

FLORAL PIECE AND UNIT FOR USE THEREWITH Filed Feb. 17. 1955 Patented May 29, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLORAL PIECE AND UNIT FOR USE THEREWITH 5 Claims.

This invention relates to formal floral pieces, and more particularly to apparatus for use in assembling floral units such as leaves or similar loose materials upon a suitable form.

5 At the present time, the most usual practice in the production of the foliage type wreath, cross or other formal floral piece, is to build up by means of a wire frame and Sphagnum moss, a body of the desired shape, following which the floral units are applied thereto by separately pinning the individual units to the body. This procedure not only requires considerable time, but likewise requires skill in the construction of the body and the application of the foliage to the body. Furthermore, considerable danger is involved as the pins must be forcibly driven into the bcdy in order that they may properly hold the units and injury often results to the fingers which are temporarily holding the units prior to the pinning.

An important object of this invention is to provide means whereby floral units may be conveniently assembled upon a preformed base which eliminates the possibility of injury to the worker and permits the units to be securely held upon a foundation which would obviously be unsuitable for pinning.

A fiu'ther and more specific object of the invention is the provision of an attachment strip which will conveniently grip both the units and the base and which, because of its construction, may be made to simultaneously grip a plurality of individual floral units, thus reducing the number of operations necessary to the completion of the wreath.

These and other objects I attain by the construction shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a partially completed piece constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the piece, a portion of the backing strip being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one form of the attaching strip;

Fig. 3c is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 4, but taken through a completed piece; and

Fig. 6 shows a modified form of an attaching strip.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 generally designates a molded base section and 11 a backing strip for use in conjunction therewith. The base section is at present shown as adapted for the formation of a wreath but may, of course, be made in any suitable design, as for example in the form of a cross. This molded base section is trough shaped in cross section with the convex surface outwardly disposed for use in giving the molded contour to the completed piece. The backing strip is simply a flat sheet of material having the same shape as the base section and closing the mouth of the trough.

The numeral 12 designates the attaching element which comprises a ductile strip having an 1 intermediate portion 13 equipped with tangs 14 on one surface. The tangs may be either scattered about the surface as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 3a or may be in the form of teeth 15 formed along the side edges of the strip as indicated in Fig. 6. The end portions of the strip are plain for a short distance and the tangs should be continuous between such end portions.

Employing these elements in the construction of a formal floral piece, the floral units F are ap-- plied to the convex face of the molded base sec-- tion in the same manner as they are now applied; that is to say, the units are gripped in groups and held against the surface of the base section. The strip 12 is then applied transverse 1y of the base of the group with its tang-equipped face against the units, sufficient pressure being brought to bear upon the strip to cause the tangs to bury themselves in and securely grip the units. The end portions of the strip are then foldedinto the channel of the trough and by this operation the tangs of those portions of the strip which do not actually overlie the units dig into the surface of the molded base section and anchor the strip against movement longitudinally of the base.

When the assembling of the units on the base section is completed, the backing strip 11 is applied and secured in position by use of three or four of the strips 12, which are applied with their loo teeth in engagement with the surface of the back ing strip and their end portions bent about the outer face of the base section beneath the applied decorations. This backing strip serves both as a finishing medium for the back of the piece, and as a shield preventing accidental engagement with and possible displacement of the clasping ends of strips 12.

It will be obvious that both the form and the attaching strips can be made in a great variety 1 1o of types and I, accordingly, do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to those particularly illustrated, except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A floral piece comprising a base, floral groups applied in units to the base, and a single fastening element for each group and securing the group to the base, said fastening element comprising a strip extending across the group and having its end portions in clasping engagement with the base, said strip having tangs to pierce the surfaces of the floral units.

2. A floral piece comprising a base, floral groups applied in units to the base, and a single fastening element for each group and securing the group to the base, said fastening element comprising a strip extending across the group and having its end portions in cla'sping engagement with the base, said strip intermediate said end portions having tangs for engagement with the surfaces of the floral units and of the base.

3. A floral piece comprising a base of thin material, floral units applied in groups to one face of the base, and a fastening element for each 0 group and securing the group to the base, said fastening element comprising a strip extending across the group and having its end portions reverted about the edges of the base and its intermediate portion provided with tangs to engage the surface of the base and the floral units.

4. A floral piece comprising a base of thin material, floral units applied in groups to one face of the base, a fastening element for each group and securing the group to the base, said fastening element comprising a strip extending across the group and having its end portions reverted about the edges of the base and its intermediate portion provided with tangs to engage the surface of the base and the floral units, and a member attached to the opposite face of said base and shielding the reverted end portions of said fastening elements.

5. A floral piece comprising a trough-shaped base, floral units applied in groups to the convex face of the base, a fastening element for each group and securing the group to the base, said fastening element comprising a strip extending across the group and having its end portion reverted into the channel of the trough and its intermediate portion provided with gripping elements to engage the floral units and the convex surface of the base, and a member closing the mouth of the trough and shielding the reverted end portions of said fastening elements.

HARRY L. COHEN. 

